Desiccating milk.



c. H. CAMPBELL.

D ESIGGATING MILK.

APPLIOATION FILED 0012, 1907.

Patented July 4, 1911.

- INVENTOR m Z M H1 1 1 flow/(11's,

WITNESSES' r suddenly cooled, and the water of the fine q'globules is evaporated and whereby also a thin skin is formed upon each of the glob- BELL, a citizen of the tration may be departed from'more or less,

the first concentration 40.

i out of the globules or granular mass, the

.vacuum chamber or after removal of the vacuum chamber it wlll the spray to 'fall through into a medium at atmospheric pressure, he}

- j UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES H. CAMPBELL, 0T2 NEW YORK, N. Y.

DESICCATING m nk.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I CHARLES H. CAMP- .nited States, residing in the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful vImprovementsin Desiceating Milk, of which the following is a specification. i

This invention aims to provide an. improved' method of reducing to powdered form milk or similar liquids.

An important feature of the invention is the spraying of the heated or warmed milk, preferably after a preliminary concentration, into a cooler atmosphere, whereby it is.

ules, which eliminates, or 1 substantially diminishes, the tendencyof the globules to coalesce as they fall upon the receptacle. The receptacle, which may be-a tray or a belt, is then shifted into an ovenwhere the last remaining particles of moisture in the globules may be extracted. For example, they. may be converted in the oven' to a practically bone-dry condition containing about 3 percent. of'water.) I

.The process is preferably applied to the desiccation of skimmed milk. Roughly speaking, such milk contains 10 per cent.;of solids and 90per cent. of water. The first concentration may be continued until the milk is reduced to approximately one-sixth of its original volume. It will thencontain 10 parts of solids'to 6 parts of water and will'be quite thick. This degree of concenbeing carried preferablyas far as possible, but not to such a point as 'to make the milk too thickto form a finely divided spray. In the first concen tration in bulk and also in the final drying temperature should preferably be kept'below the coagulating point of albumen (140 F.). The concentrated milk is quickness ofevaporation, and the final drying may be effected eitherin the milk therefrom. By'reason of the use of a not be'necessary for such a distance as would be required if the were sprayed Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed October 2,

type shown inthe patent of Patented July 4, 1911. 1907. Serial No. 395,555.

apparatus "for carrying out the process embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the spraying valve. -Referring now to the drawings the preliminary concentration may be efiected in a tank-A which may be, for example, of the J Campbell, No. 668,161. In this tank air is in ected through nozzles B, while the mass is heated by hot water circulation in the jacket C and through the coils D. After the mass in the tank A has been concentrated to the dc sired extent it is run oflby opening a hand.

valve E into a closed reservoir F which is preferably also heated by a water jacket G,

and which has connected toit a pipe Hfor admitting air pressure to force the milk out of a spraying nozzle J at the lower end of ;the'tank. The reservoir F may be omitted spraying where itis convenient to effect the immediately after the concentration 1n the tank A and while the milk is still heated,

(generally with a temperature of about 140) but it will be found more convenlent generally 'to use an intermediate storage reservoir F. A suitable spraying nozzle is shown in sectional view in Fig. 2. i

The drawing shows the vacuum chamber 0 into which the warmed milk is led from the storage tank F or preliminary tank, the exhaustion of air being effected through a pipe P leading to a vacuum pump. The spray falls in a comparatively dry condition upon the bottom Q of the chamber which may-be provided with hot water circulating pipes B so' asto effect the final drying in the vacuum chamber instead of in a separate oven. Preferably a sweep'S s provided for continuously stirring the mass upon the bottom of the vacuum chamber,

the sweep being arranged on a shaft which is supported in the upper wall of the chamber and which is rotated by apulley and a belt T. -Windows U are provlded for observing the condition of the product and of the spray. The bottom. Q is preferably hinged at one edge ,by means of a hinge V and held up by a latch W. When a sufficient batch of the product has been made, the. pipe leading to the vacuum chamber is I closed and the bottom of the cha'mberis unlatched and dropped so as to let the product fall into hoppers or receptacles. A valve X may be opened to break the vacuum.

- A great advantage of the process of this invention lies in the elimination of the necessity for maintaining a current of hot. dried air passing over the spray, as has been necessary where the heat of the original concentration of the milk, or heat applied to the milk for that particular purpose, has not been made available. With this invention the spray passes through a substantially still medium and the collection of the product is thereby very' much facilitated; the danger of burning the product, which is very susceptible to heat in this finely divided condition, being also avoided.

An important advantage of the process is in the obtaining of a product which is in a spongy condition so as to readily take up water and be readily divisible in water when the product is to v in normal be remade into-liquid milk. 1 That is to say, the particles remain as nearly as possible in the same condition as milk. The action of the heat 5 ima es when the milk is sprayed is to vaporize the water in each globule so as to cause each separate globule to be of spongy consistency. The efiect is especially marked because the spraying takes place in a vacuum Where the vapor is quickly formed and dissipated.

What I'claim is: 4 The process of desiccating milk which consists in concentrating and heating it, the

heating being carried to a temperature below the coagulating point of albumen and the concentratlng being carried as far as possible consistentwith the subsequent reduc-' tion of the milk to a fine spray, finely spraying the. concentrated heated. milk into a vacuum at alower temperature whereby the heat therein is dissipated and .a quick evaporation is effected, and -whereby the tendency of the fine globules or grains to coalesce is substantially diminished, and

whereby it is reduced to a spongy condition,

' and heating the mass after it is collected to ;dry out the remaining moisture.

- In witness .whereof, I have signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

V CHARLES H. CAMPBELL.

Witnesses:

- DOMINGO H. UsINA,

FRED WHITE.

hereunto 

